Statement

Mouth full of salt is an in-progress, motley crew of prints all riffing on the briny deep. As a SCUBA diver, it is tangible to watch the mass of inhabitants shriveling from our oceans as time goes on. The infamy formed around these marine inhabitants–as presented in symbolism found in literature, or habitual embellishments of their perceived threat–is certainly at no risk of the same fate. Here begin conceptual origins.

Various processes of photography and printmaking contribute to the output of Mouth full of salt. In some works occur the merging of these techniques. This supports the multi-tasking personalities of the pieces and the canons to which they refer: conquests by man, the negative feminization of nature, the exploitation of feminine bodies and vengeance by such, man’s romantic death. Here comes cryptozoology, mythology, misogyny, and tropes.

Technically speaking, the processes involved cover a small history of image-oriented machines, from printing presses to inkjet printers. The machine is a practical execution for the work as it is an intervention. Here it physically separates the maker from the object itself, whether through plate, press, or camera. Similarly, such mechanical intervention is enacted on the human body in diving: man-made assists with breathing, vision, and propulsion give life and ability that is at the same time unsympathetic to what appears as “standard” human constitution. As Mouth full of saltprogresses, this particular intervention is important as it reflects that the works were created within tenets related to industry.